Wednesday, July 30, 2014

End the slaughter in Gaza

It is unusual for
this column to deal with the same issue three weeks in a row. But the Israeli
assault on Gaza makes this a very special case. The scenes of desolation and
destruction, of whole streets reduced to piles of broken rubble, and the images
of torn bodies, especially of young children and babies, demand that the
international community do all that we can to end this slaughter.

Just before noon on
Tuesday morning I spoke to Saeb Erekat in Ramallah on the west Bank. The
Palestinian Unity Government was holding an emergency meeting to discuss the
deteriorating situation.

Saeb is an Executive Committee Member
of the PLO and is the Chief Negotiator for the Palestinian government. He took
a few minutes to brief me on the current situation in Gaza and the behind the
scenes efforts to achieve a humanitarian ceasefire.

He explained that
the Palestinian government, including Hamas, had accepted a United States
proposal for a 24 hour humanitarian ceasefire. The Israeli government rejected
this. The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon then proposed a 72 hour
humanitarian ceasefire. The Palestinian government accepted this but again the
Israeli government said no.

Saeb thanked the
people of Ireland for their support and asked that they and the international
community endorse and support the United Nations call for a ceasefire. He told
me that there is no oil, no water, and no electricity in Gaza. Saeb described
this current Israeli assault as seeking the total destruction of Gaza.

The proof of this
can be found in the statistics of death and destruction coming out of Gaza. In
the 24 hours before I spoke to Saeb another 100 Palestinians – mostly civilians
– had been killed in attacks by the Israel military.

Since July 8 when
the current violence erupted around 1300 Palestinians – according to the UN 80%
of them civilians – have been killed. Almost 7,000 have been injured. Israel
has lost 53 soldiers and three civilians.

An explanation for
the disproportionate number of civilian deaths between Palestinians and Israel
can be found in the words of Major General Gadi Eizenkot, now a deputy chief of
staff in the Israeli Army. Six years ago he admitted that any village or city
from which rockets are fired would be regarded as a ‘missile base.’

The Israel Army and
its defenders claim that it is the most moral army in the world. The evidence
of the last three weeks disproves that claim. On the contrary the Israeli army,
air force and navy have demonstrated again and again their capacity to
deliberately and systematically and accurately target the civilian population.

They are engaging
in collective punishment of a civilian population – a practice which is
supposedly outlawed under international law. But the truth is that the end game
is about the theft of Palestinian land and water and control of the occupied
territories through terror.

When Israeli forces
withdrew from Gaza in 2005 it wasn’t about peace or acknowledging the rights of
the Palestinian people. Arial Sharon the former Prime Minister of Israel said
that their disengagement ‘will strengthen
its control over those same areas in the ‘Land of Israel’ which will constitute
an inseparable part of the State of Israel.’

Israel’s assault on Gaza, including
the blockade that was imposed in 2007, is about defending the Israeli
occupation of Palestinian land, denying the Palestinian people their national
rights, undermining Palestinian political institutions and its economy and to weaken
Palestinian resistance.

Israeli government aggression
has to be challenged. The rights of the Palestinian people must be defended.
The violence against the civilian population of Gaza must be ended. The Irish
government can play an important role in this. Ireland is generally viewed as
progressive on international matters around the world. The UN has called for a
three day ceasefire. The Irish government and the Dáil should be united in
supporting this.

Last week I wrote
to An Taoiseach requesting that he recall the Dáil to discuss the situation in
Gaza. The Taoiseach has not answered my letter but in briefings to the media he
has indicated that he is not willing to accede to Sinn Féin's request for
the Dáil to be reconvened.

Thus far Sinn Féin
and Fianna Fáil, 14 independent deputies, one Fine Gael TD and one Labour TD
and six Seanadóirí have endorsed our request for the recall of the Dáil.

I believe the
Taoiseach’s position is a mistake, particularly now that the Seanad will be
reconvened to discuss this urgent issue, but also in light of the Palestinian
support for the UN ceasefire call. The Irish government and the Dáil can
provide leadership at this critical juncture as efforts are made to end the
violence.

Given our own
history as a people, our experience of conflict and our peace process, a recalled
Dáil uniting in support of an end to violence and in support of the United
Nations appeal for a 72 hour humanitarian ceasefire, would send a powerful
message of solidarity to the people of that region and encourage an
intensification of pressure on the Israeli government to accept the United
Nations ceasefire proposal.

In the meantime I
want to commend all of those who are organising and participating in public
protests against Israeli actions and in support of the Palestinian people.
Nelson Mandela once remarked that; ‘We
know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the
Palestinians.’ He was right.